Slide show from Day Two of Mr. and Mrs. MacB "hit" the town

  Pictures (above)  by RCD Fairchild.

The story behind the superstition....

( Two of this production's directors were the first say the dread name and ran three times around the theater on Day Two)


Angels and Ministers of Grace: Theatrical Superstitions Through the Ages
by Kristen McDermott


". . . why do I yield to that suggestion, Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, And make my seated heart knock at its ribs, Against the use of nature?"
— Macbeth, 1.3.133-6


If at any time you find yourself starved for attention, simply wander into the backstage area of any theater in the English-speaking world. Start to chant "Double, double, toil and trouble," or perhaps simply shout the word "Macbeth!" at the top of your lungs. You will instantly be surrounded by actors and stagehands, frantically shushing you and maybe even trying to push you out the door. Once outside, you must do several things: you must turn around three times, spit over your left shoulder, run around the theater three times and either 1) say the filthiest word you know, 2) say "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" or 3) speak a line from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Then you must wait to be invited back into the theater. Only then will the dread Curse of the Scottish Play be reversed.

Anyone who has studied Macbeth in high school or college has heard of the Curse of the Scottish Play — or "the Plaid Play" — or simply, "That Play." In fact, it officially entered the elite ranks of pop culture last year in an episode of The Simpsons. America's most beloved animated family visited England and met Sir Ian McKellen as he rehearsed "That Play." Of course, the Simpsons' incessant mentioning of "Macbeth" onstage results in the hapless Sir Ian's being struck by, among other things, lightning and a scaffold.

Productions of Macbeth have historically (it is claimed) been beset with disaster — accidents both onstage and off, from actors gouged and maimed during the many sword fights in the play, to friends and relatives of theater people struck with sudden, unexplained ailments during the run of the show, to the bizarre offstage deaths of actors and directors connected with Macbeth productions. The explanations for these occurrences are long and complex, ranging from the purely supernatural to the purely practical. Macbeth is cursed, some argue, because its depictions of witchcraft rituals invite evil spirits into the space of the theater. Others claim that the curse is the cumulative result of random bad fortune over 400 years of performances, creating a backstage atmosphere of nervousness and tension that invites danger. More pragmatic people suggest that the play is plagued with bad luck simply because any production that features lots of swordplay and special effects with smoke and flames will suffer more than its share of accidents.

One thing is certain: professional theater people respect the curse, whether they literally believe in it or not. Actors have traditionally had a hearty respect for the unseen forces at work in the world, perhaps because their own livelihood depends so much on luck, illusion, and a deep connection with the darkest recesses of human emotion. This may also be the reason why the world of the theater is densely packed with superstitions and ghost stories.

Here are some things that actors never do:

* Whistle backstage
* Say "good luck!" to one another
* Speak the last line of the play (the "tag") in rehearsal
* Peek through the curtain to see the audience
* Leave hats on dressing room beds or shoes on the floor.

Of course, some of these superstitions have perfectly logical origins. When the lights and curtains were operated by teams of stagehands manipulating hundreds of heavy bars and sandbags backstage, they used the sailors' language of whistles and handclaps to communicate with one another. Any ill-timed whistle could bring a half-ton curtain down onto your head! Having a distracted fellow-actor sit on one's elaborate stage hat because it was lying on the chaise in your dressing room would also be a bad thing. But many stage superstitions seem much more obscure.